Lothere's Treatise of State and Being

[Tulwyn]

LOTHERE'S TREATISE: OF STATE AND BEING

Penned by Edmund Lothere
Sponsored by the League of White



Introduction

Good evening, dear imposed readers of what shall amount to nearly three months of studying the theatre of politics in Ephia's Well, and a love note to all that I stand for as part of my endearment and loyalty to the ideas and the tenets of the League of White.

My inspiration for writing this is that over the span of my political career in Ephia's Well, I have used certain terms that I have repeated many times individually but never en masse to an entirety, and so I mean to clear up and clarify some of them into the ideas they truly are, and what they truly mean, so that they can no longer be twisted against their will and beyond their intent.

I dedicate this piece first and foremost to the People I deign to serve and to aid, and to my colleagues and friends; Legate Alexandria Sayburgh, Balladeer Katya Belyaeva, Student & Vizier of the People Denain de Jonquille, the Students and Brothers Thorncrest, the leader of the Rathgan, Ulfgrim Grimgarsson, the scholar Ramez Hour Sobhy, the lovely Sisters Selsi and Jamei alongside Acolyte Narwen and lastly, the foremost Candidate for the League of Purple and noble philanthropist, the daughter of Ghalib, Lujayn bint Ghalib ibn Ahlam al-Farisyya, to whom without, my ideas would find little opposition and find itself cold whence it should be grazed in the flames of critique.

Thank you all so very much for your support, your care, your counsel and advice, and your ear. Thank you, also, for being so patient with my troubling antics of late, and the addiction that claws at my heart, a burden I have since defeated in earnest due to your unwavering encouragement and the amnesty of the gracious Wheel Clergy.


The Common Good

Evil begets evil and good begets good. First and foremost, the term 'Common Good' implies two things. One, that it is common, therefore it is not vague nor unheard of and is shared among the many, and that it is good, and so that it is for the benefit of all, not just the few.

I first began speaking of the Common Good in relation to the more often spoken 'Greater Good', in which questionable acts are committed and justified as sacrificing the few to save the many, or sacrificing something smaller to spare something larger. In short, a grand scheme to commit a great act and sacrifice to benefit the world as a whole or society as a whole, to no choice or say of their own. This good is often not deemed by the many, but by the few, and yet is claimed to be for the good of all.

The Common Good directly opposes this idea, and instead declares most vehemently and justly that such things are often the justification of heinous deeds, of tyranny, of cruelty, and dismissing it as fine due to the good, overall, it accomplishes. Moreover, I believe it is unquestionable that sacrificing even a few to save many is unnecessary in a generation of survivors. There is always another way. There is always another option. There is always a choice.

Instead, the Common Good would be led by simplicity, in concepts that any man or woman could very well understand. That, for example, walls keep our enemies at bay and our people safe, and we would all agree on this; or that the economy when it thrives is good for all, or that it is better to teach one to fish than it is to indefinitely hand out buckets of it forever.

The Common Good is led by logic while the Greater Good is led by conjecture and vague excuses for acts that are more often than naught, bloody and inexcusable, and yet excused all the same and defined as inherently good. Which they are not, and rarely ever are. Nor are they ever things the people as a whole have decided on for themselves and in the future of this young and nascent Polity we must, therefore, ensure all have a say, and further develop its bright idea of such.





Dinarcracy and Democracy

I have often spoken of Dinarcracy and Democracy, and must confess that Dinarcracy is not a term I coined myself, but a colleague named Barend Hoensbroeck.

In Ephia's Well, there are not many structures in place to ensure those who are rich are made to contribute to the coffers, as they have the most to spare. In truth, the only feasible tax currently is that of the Voice, and it is a one-time fee that gives many benefits.

Once a person reaches a certain credential of wealth, it ceases to no longer be a burden of theirs to have need of anything in particular. They do not pay taxes, only rent on their properties, which is generous for their coffers, and the board pays exceedingly well to any adventurer who can swing a blade or work miracles from their hands. The boardworkers of Ephia's Well are among the richest of us, and are also the most vocal whenever change is threatened in the city by a progressive Legate, as the world, in their viewpoint, revolves around them. And society often reflects that, while the masses, the many poor and disenfranchised Ephians to-be, are left to line up for soup at the Stockades and beg for alms, as many of them cannot wield a blade, and some of them shall never be able to.

Where once, perhaps, these were farmers, lumberjacks, foragers, criers, messengers, reporters, craftsmen, etcetera, these are professions that either no longer exist, are no longer needed in excess or are a niche filled already by double-dipping adventurers fueled by greed and bedlam.

Make no mistake. Ephia's Well is the place to retire, is the place to live, the place to settle; if you're rich. If you're poor and have nothing, it is still the place to settle, for at least water is provided freely and many accommodations in comparison to the rest of the Great Disc. That is, most certainly a dystopian wasteland when faced against what is essentially a paradise.

But this does not mean we have no work left to do, for work aplenty there is to do before this city is the Sanctuary it is deigned and destined to be. A Sanctuary for all peoples, and the haven and birthplace of Democracy. But while it remains a corrupt and decadent seat of wealth for the few who wish not to see any change whatsoever, and care little for the people bar acts of vanity for prestige and selfish reasons (because it is very easy for them to throw out droves and droves of dinari, the finest example of their expedient and overflowing wealth), this city shall not reach its potential. So, let us be away with this Dinarcracy, and fully embrace power to the People. Polity! Not Idolatry, whose Idol is a Golden Dinar.

It must be recognized however that there shall always be the wealthy few to deal with, but in how we deal with them, and the methods therein, is most important. It is important, indeed, not to compromise, but to enact an ultimatum and a social contract between the wealthy, the city's future and the downtrodden beneath their heel.

We must tax the wealthy, we must tax the prominent Voiced, the caravaneer, the adventurer and finally the venture profiteers (differing from the humble merchant or trader, leading to excessive wealth), and pool together the tax dinars into our city's future and invest in more housing, more opportunities and fairer practice in labor laws and minimum wages. We must remind the many who cannot swing a sword that so long as they can partake in labor and civil jobs, they are as hard working as any Ephian and paramount to its future.

Only Asterabadian Democracy as depicted in Dreams can bring forth this future. The Leagues of Gold and Purple must be treated with one way or another, but they must never hold a Seat, let alone two Seats, else the Pillars of Progress crumble and must be built anew.




Politician and Statesman or Self-Interest against Generous Interest

Often it is labeled politician as the title that best befits one aspiring to enter the Leagues and campaign for Legate, but this shall be a short subject to discuss in truth.

A politician is one who is riddled with self-interest, and in truth, their entire motivation for entering politics is power and authority. Power over their fellow, power over the city, power over the state. Power is their game, their ethos, their final destination. They will smile, when truly they are grinning, and they will weep and grieve when really they are laughing. False faces and false promises are their craft.

A statesman, however, is those rightful participants of the political theatre that are not in it for their own gain but for the gain of the city, of the people and because they truly wish to see their home prosper and grow. They work towards and for the state as a whole, not just their League or their own person, or their friends, but the state as a whole.

Perhaps you shall dislike them the most, but it cannot be denied that they are more honest than politicians, they are more direct, and they are not afraid to step on the toes of the crooked spine. They are those unafraid to truly do what they have deigned and promised to do in office, rather than the politician who is full of broken promises or has only feinted their bravado up to that point, and therefore, are afraid to commit upon any change at all, and simply sit on their Legate's wage accomplishing next to nothing.

I have ever disliked the term 'politician', even as I am called it, and it betrays the motivations of my work. I am a statesman, a man who, in his wanton desire to improve the city-state in which he lives, has and shall continue to participate in the theatre of necessary politics to move forward upon his unabated path of progress, in ensuring all that he wishes to do and has bid himself to do; improve the city-state, and its people. Co-prosperity, must always begin with 'Co', for it is together and only together that we begin to make the necessary steps towards Sanctuary for All and the Ephian Reality, that wellspring of life from the often spoken Ephian Dream that is more an Ephian Lie than naught, spoken by those thieves of joy and champions of self-interest that I label the politician and the sycophant.





The Scales of the Living: The Twins Whom Uphold a City on Their Shoulders

It is well known that I pay faithful homage to the Twins, and would consider myself among the Twindari. In that, I hold the law sacred, and time and again I have witnessed its twisting for the sake of personal vendetta. A homage to the Wroth, in a holy seat of the Martyrs, is and must be held accountable as anathema.

The trial of Mazeed Hafouri is one such example where not only was due jurisprudence not followed as bid by Preparator Fdiz, stationed here on placement from the Adliye of Martyrs in Baz'eel, but it appeared more as a mock trial than a true trial.

This man confessed to serving the hated Ninth Spoke, to assaulting several Ephian citizens, to theft, and to intent to murder, and after given Absolution by a Waterbearer of B'aara as if to dismiss the domain that belongs to the Twins, was allowed to depart freely with not even a fine.

To quote from the chapters, 'Galim, the Living Brother, shall keep the scales right. Records must be kept. Precedent must be followed. Honesty observed. Corruption among officiator (sitting Judge) squashed.'

Afterwards, this man broke his word and went on yet another rampage of murder and strife, to which he was hunted and executed for. But no more harm would have come to another innocent soul, had due jurisprudence taken place as witnessed by the Martyrs.

That is why the Law is sacred, and not a flimsy thing to be changed on a whim. It also brings to light the most dangerous aspect of a nascent Democracy as we know it.

Indeed, the most dangerous thing about Democracy and elected officials is that the Law can be writ, changed, removed and struck from the record all together all in the same day. There is no committee, there is no 'Godslaw' or 'King's Law' as there used to be, there is only the law of Baz'eel, that hangs above us, and the Ephian Penal Code, that has been altered a number of times that is even difficult to count or record.

That is why I campaigned for it in Iyar (7789), and I have sought those like minded to join me in serving as a Voiced committee in regard to proposals of the Penal Code in Assembly, and shall continue to do so; and if I were to have a Seat as Legate, I would put great expectation upon our sitting Magistrates and expand the legal system as a whole.

It must also be said that while some may attempt to hide from quotes left unsaid, I do not, and I will repeat here in written word that I do not support the Fourth Legion of the Sultan's Janissary acting as sole prosecution in Ephia's Well, and I think that should be the place of lawyers sanctioned by the Adliye of Martyrs. I have seen enough mistakes and gross misconduct of the law to not waver from this belief, and shall continue to champion the law being more firmly in the hands of our very well established Clergy of the Twindari in our dear city.

This city is held upon the shoulders of the Martyrs, and the Brothers bear a shameful frown upon us for our conduct, that we should immediately correct going forward, lest we bring greater Wroth than Urazzir himself upon us for breaking this sacred thing.

[Tulwyn]

Protecting the Citadel - Isolation over Frontier

It has taken me some time to determine what ink should find this parchment, in this part and parcel of this treatise in State and Being, of that and what a State must Be.

In the League of White we have a tenet we abide by. In full, it goes like this; Avoid entanglement with the dark powers of the desert, who would bring us into their troubles, to look inward, not outward.

Nary a conversation goes in the theater of politics within Ephia's Well, it seems, that does not make mention of Arslan. I hear it from colleagues, I hear it from rivals and competitors and I hear it from newly arrived!

Yes, due to our decisions in the Iakmean War, we are faced with a reality that was decided for us, and not as a whole, not as an Assembly. The Union of Kardesler in the end was made a mockery, and Ephia's Well did betray the Emirate of Kha'esh to liberate the City of Arslan. Now we are forced, as a whole, to decide its future.

However it was to the design of those I shall not mention that Ephia's Well is the frontier in all things, that we never know peace everlasting, and I do not mean only war, but also our politics, that which are implemented in a way that enforces a long and grueling status quo, where opposing Legates shall never see eye to eye in truth.

So we are the frontier, the ever whittled Citadel, and so long as the water flows, all is fine. But all is not fine, and we have indebted ourselves to a lifetime of commitment that we cannot afford, and have therefore weakened our city, our people and our future, that we have worked so hard to proclaim. That we have bled to honor and make sacrosanct.

I am not so cruel as to suggest that we abandon Arslan in her time of need, as we must now take responsibility for the actions of our city, as a responsible government should. I am however suggesting that we have made a mistake, and Ephia's Well shall suffer for it.

They say Ephia's Well is now in the spot of light, that we are emerging on a grand scale of the Great Disc and that eyes are watching. That we are indeed becoming great.

But are we becoming great, or is it that our name has become one with infamy on the lips of foreigners? To those who would align themselves with us now, will they see us as heroes, as victors, as saviors, or shall they see us as betrayers? As untrustworthy? That is the question, the Ephian Question, perhaps the Arslan Question, that we must be asking ourselves.

So we must ensure Arslan's future is secure, but we must not decide it for them when the time comes that they might stand upon their own two feet, nor should we partition the city amongst the Accord like we are vultures, twisting the helping hand we have extended into one that was not extended without condition, as it appears. We are not conquerors, nor are we colonists. We are pioneers, not of another's future, but ours. We must focus on ourselves, and our future, if we are to grow and expand and care for the many refugees that continue to pour into our walls that seek to proclaim safety and sanctuary for all, and opportunities to follow.






Ephia's Well - Sanctuary for All

Ephia's Well must become a Sanctuary for All, and in that future, we need no borders but where our walls begin and end. There is much to do here, at home, before we gallivant into the Ash and begin dictating the futures of other city-states.

We must redefine citizenship, work towards fair representation for the Voiceless, ensure proper legal practice that is liberated of any malpractice and corruption and we must invest in our city and our people.

Thus I will conclude here, this treatise, that has aimed to clarify some of the terms I've used over my career for the betterment of the Citadel. I've made an effort to illuminate the Common Good over the Greater Good, and how our city is entangled in what is truly a Dinarcracy, not a Democracy, where coin wins the day and votes can be bought like a gourmet meal by the rich, thus ensuring ever an unfair system that does not properly represent all Ephians, nor give voice to the many Voiceless.

There is contrast between what I have called a politician and what I aspire to be, a statesman. So too, I stress the need for more care in the law and Jurisprudence, and for the Twins to be rightfully honored, for the law is sacred.

Finally, it is my hope that in the future, once our commitments are settled, we look to focus on Ephia's Well alone over the constant entanglements of foreign interference and cities that do not belong to us. My vision is that Ephia's Well be a Sanctuary for all peoples, a place of justice. A place of prosperity. A place of true representation, where the future is built upon the strength of its own citizens and the government ordained by the Palatial Assembly, and not merely the nigh autocratic rule of two opposing Legates. An end to the status quo, and the beginning of progress.[/font]